The princess had just returned home when news came back from the spies at the city gate.
"The third master of the Chu family has left the city before the imperial guards sealed it off." The young man with rosy lips and white teeth helped the eldest princess sit down on the couch, then knelt down below the couch and offered her a cup of fragrant tea.
The princess did not respond. She fiddled with the gold bracelet with five-colored gemstones on her hand, her eyes wandering to somewhere else. "Chu Changping, this is the last thing I will do for you."
The young man was quite jealous and said, "The princess is really in love with that warrior named Chu."
The princess glanced at him calmly, without any anger on her face, but the young master was so frightened that he raised his hand and slapped her twice, "I am a chatterbox, I deserve to die!"
The princess raised the young man's chin with her red cardamom nails. Without a trace of emotion in her eyes, she said, "I have kept you by my side because you are obedient and well-behaved. I just took you out for a boat trip on the lake today, and we ran into the imperial guards when we came back. Do you understand?"
The young man nodded repeatedly: "I understand."
The princess withdrew her hand, lay back on the couch, and said nonchalantly, "Go down."
The young man then crawled out of the hall.
The personal maid stepped forward to massage the princess' shoulders, looked at the box of blood jade and agate in the palace, and said with a smile: "The King of Liaonan must have put a lot of thought into this. He knows that you like these items, so he specially collected so many and sent them to you."
The princess only glanced at it indifferently, showing no interest. She was willing to help the Chu family not because of the great gift from the Liaonan King, but simply for that person.
She raised her hand to brush away the smoke rising from the incense burner, thinking of the recent changes in the court, and frowned slightly: "This princess does not want to see His Majesty make mistakes again and again. What ridiculous things he did for a woman!"
First, he sent the daughter of an aristocratic family to the frontier to be a prostitute, and then he demoted the legitimate son of Grand Secretary Lu. Now, if he plunders the Chu family as well, when the truth comes out, won't he be waiting for the condemnation of the whole world
Just as the princess was worrying about this matter, a maidservant came hurriedly outside the palace and delivered a message: "Princess! Something terrible has happened! Please go to the palace quickly!"
The maids behind the eldest princess panicked, thinking that the person in the palace had found out that the King of Liaonan's men had given them gifts.
The princess looked surprisingly calm. When she stood up and asked the maid to tidy up her dress, she asked the maid, "What happened in the palace?"
The maid said in panic, "I heard that General Fan flirted with Concubine Xi after drinking, and His Majesty was furious and killed General Fan, and Concubine Fan fainted on the spot. Now His Majesty is holding a sword and heading to the Queen's palace!"
"Ridiculous!" The princess couldn't wait for the maid to tidy up her gorgeous clothes, and walked out with her long sleeves dragging: "Prepare the car!"
After the youngest son of the Fan family followed Fan Wei back to the capital, the Fan family found him a job as an imperial guard in the palace.
After all, in this world, the people who are most respected and most likely to be promoted are those who serve the emperor.
The Fan family held military power and was at the peak of their careers. Even though the impeachment letter sent by the King of Liaonan from Xizhou a few days ago, coupled with the evidence collected by a group of ministers from the public, only resulted in the youngest son of the Fan family being beaten with a stick.
But today, just because he touched the person closest to the emperor, he was beheaded!
The eldest princess got a headache just thinking about how to appease the Fan family. They were not loyal subjects like the Lu family!
Moreover, the emperor went to the queen's palace, which must be because the queen had instigated the incident of Xipin being molested by the youngest son of the Fan family. Getting rid of Xipin and suppressing Concubine Fan was killing two birds with one stone, so why wouldn't the queen do it
But based on the eldest princess's understanding of the queen, this was definitely not a plan that the queen could come up with on her own. Otherwise, why would the youngest son of the Fan family, who had served in the imperial court for so long, choose to flirt with Concubine Xi today
The King of Liaonan definitely had something to do with this!
It was also at this moment that the eldest princess realized the terrible nature of the King of Liaonan's methods. It was one thing that he could find her, but did he have people in the deep palace
The queen was pregnant with the heir, so even if she made a huge mistake, she couldn't do anything, let alone plotting against a small concubine. But the emperor took his sword and went to Kunning Palace, and the princess had to worry about her nephew going crazy again.
***
The palace was already in chaos at this time, with the cries of palace maids and eunuchs everywhere.
The new emperor's bright yellow dragon robe was half stained with blood, and the long sword in his hand was also wet with blood.
The people in Kunning had heard the news early in the morning that the new emperor was coming here with a sword in hand. The senior maidservant beside the queen cried and advised her to hide in the queen mother's palace as soon as possible.
The queen had a sad look on her face. She was a dignified beauty with picturesque eyebrows and eyes and a graceful temperament.
At this moment, she was stroking her abdomen, with tears in her eyes, she sneered and said, "It would be better if he killed me as well, and then supported the one he loved the most to sit on the throne!"
"My queen, why do you have to get angry with His Majesty at this time? You are pregnant with the heir of the emperor. Once His Majesty's temper subsides, you will just give in and the matter will be over. How can that bitch Xipin still be favored by His Majesty after this? When the little prince is born, His Majesty will have forgotten about that bitch. For the sake of the little prince, His Majesty will not bother with you about this!"
The chief palace maid tried to persuade the empress with all her heart, but seeing that she was still unmoved, she had no choice but to send someone to the Cining Palace to invite the empress dowager over.
When the door of Kunning Palace was kicked open by the new emperor, the empress was still taking today's pregnancy-preserving medicine in the palace, with a meal on the low table in front of her.
Looking at the man holding a long sword and walking into the palace against the light, the queen even had the mood to ask him: "Your Majesty, is it rare for you to come to my Kunning Palace? Jingyi, serve your Majesty chopsticks."
The senior palace maid serving at the side looked at the long sword in the new emperor's hand, which was still dripping with blood, and tremblingly added a set of bowls and chopsticks on the low table.
The new emperor frowned and kicked over the low table. All the exquisite dishes spilled onto the ground, and the head palace maid screamed in fright.
The queen drank the last sip of the pregnancy-preserving medicine before looking up at the new emperor: "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
The new emperor pointed his sword at her, his voice as cold as the thin ice condensed in the Taiye Lake in early winter: "Have I ever told you to behave yourself?"
The queen's eyes were filled with sadness and self-mockery. "Your Majesty, why don't you tell me what it means to be content and law-abiding? Is it to smile happily while watching your husband sleep in another woman's palace every night? Or is it that as the master of the six palaces, you want to beat to death the palace maid who brought back the lychees just because she ate the lychees you gave to the girl in the Cangjiao Palace?"
The person that the King of Liaonan placed next to the Queen was able to successfully incite her to use the youngest son of the Fan family to deal with Jiang Yanxi, all thanks to the long-standing disagreement between the Emperor and the Queen.
The first and last batches of lychees sent to the palace every year are the rarest.
The last batch of lychees sent to the palace this year only had three plates, one of which was placed in the new emperor's bedroom and one was sent to the empress dowager's palace. The empress naturally thought that the last plate should belong to her. Unexpectedly, the new emperor gave the plate of lychees to Concubine Xi early in the morning.
The people sent by the Queen to get the lychees had an argument with the people from Cangjiao Palace, and in the end the lychees were naturally taken away by the Queen's people.
The woman in Cangjiao Palace felt extremely humiliated and looked down upon the new emperor for several days. In order to vent her anger, the new emperor ordered that the palace maid who went to get the lychees that day be dragged to the Ministry of Punishment and beaten to death by beatings, in order not to touch the pregnant empress.
The new emperor was even more furious when he heard the queen's words. "Just because of these, you plotted to kill her? How can such a vicious woman be in charge of the six palaces?"
The word "evil woman" made the tears that the queen had been trying so hard to hold back in her eyes burst out instantly.
She smiled bitterly, closed her eyes and said, "I don't know what your majesty is talking about. If your majesty thinks I'm an eyesore and wants to make room for a newcomer, you might as well kill me with a sword!"
The people in her palace had bitten their tongues and committed suicide when they were caught, so there was no evidence.
Now the queen refused to acknowledge him, and the new emperor was so furious that he wished he could kill her with a single sword.
But... Can't...
It was not because of the baby in her womb, but because of the influence of the queen’s family in the court.
The tip of the sword was against the queen's throat, just a few centimeters away.
Suddenly there was a commotion outside the palace, followed by the Queen Mother's crying and cursing: "Asshole! You asshole!"
The Queen Mother was supported by her personal maid and walked quickly into the hall. When she saw the new emperor pointing a sword at the Queen, she almost fainted from anger. She stepped forward and knocked the sword out of the new emperor's hand, then stood in front of the Queen: "This is your Queen! She is pregnant with your eldest son! What are you going to do?"
The Queen is the niece of the Queen Mother. Apart from the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the two are also aunt and niece.
When the queen saw the queen mother, she finally had a place to vent her grievances and burst into tears: "Mother..."
The new emperor was already very angry about the Chu family's affairs, and now his beloved woman was framed again. His whole head was buzzing, and the queen's crying made him even more irritated. He turned his head and looked at the queen dowager coldly and said, "This queen was chosen by you, mother, for your son, not by me."
"Asshole!"
The Queen Mother was so angry that her eyes turned red. She raised her hand and slapped the new emperor.
After the fight, the Queen Mother looked at her hands and was also stunned: "My son..."
The new emperor licked his lips and tasted the blood at the corner of his mouth. He ordered the people around him: "Send the Queen Mother back to the Cining Palace."
The Queen Mother was afraid that he would really attack the Queen, so she said in a stern voice: "Have you forgotten how much effort your uncle put in for you to ascend to the throne?"
These words made the new emperor's eyes completely cold. In the two years since he ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager's family had taken advantage of her status as a follower of the Emperor to make undue advances countless times.
The relatives by marriage were in power and tried to make him a puppet emperor. He deliberately supported the Fan family in order to suppress the arrogance of the empress dowager's family.
He said, "I remember all of my uncle's achievements, so I don't need my mother to remind me."
The Queen Mother was so angry that her heart ached. She pointed at him and said, "You..."
The new emperor glanced coldly at the people around him and said, "You guys can't hear what I say, right? Send the Queen Mother back to the Cining Palace!"
The palace maids had no choice but to escort the Queen Mother away.
The queen fell on the phoenix couch, her face ashen, and she asked him with tears in her eyes: "If Your Majesty hates me so much, why did you marry me in the first place..."
The new emperor ignored him and said coldly: "The queen is immoral. From now on, she will be confined to Kunning Palace."
The queen looked at his ruthless back as he left and burst into tears.
***
By the time the eldest princess entered the palace, the farce had ended.
The princess looked at the new emperor sitting on the dragon throne and scolded, "You shouldn't have killed Fan Shengnian at this time."
The new emperor raised his gloomy and cruel eyes and said, "He touched my woman, he deserves death!"
"Why didn't you kill him when the civil and military officials impeached him a few days ago?" The princess questioned, "If you act like this, who in the court will believe you in the future? Fan Shengnian deserves to die, but not for such a reason! If you convict him of the impeachment and behead him, it will be a warning to the Fan family and an explanation to the civil and military officials in the court!"
"But you killed him because he flirted with the concubine. What do you think the court officials will think? They will only think that you are an unkind king! You won't feel pain unless the burning coal falls on your own instep!"
The new emperor explained: "When the Liaonan King impeached Fan Shengnian, Fan Wei handed over the Songzhou military token to protect Fan Shengnian."
The princess asked him, "So the Songzhou military token is not worth a concubine in your harem?"
The new emperor closed his eyes solemnly: "Aunt, Xipin is innocent. She was just dragged into this conspiracy. There are secret agents of the Liaonan King in the palace, and I have already uncovered them all."
The princess laughed in anger: "She is innocent? Which stupid thing you did was not caused by her? She is a disaster!"
The new emperor suddenly said, "Chu Changping escaped from the capital. Xiao Qian said that it was my aunt who stopped him at Duhe Avenue for nearly a quarter of an hour."
The eldest princess did not show any panic on her face. She met the new emperor's gaze and asked, "Your Majesty, are you doubting me?"
The new emperor did not answer. The princess smiled to herself and straightened her sleeves. "Commander Xiao's men bumped into my carriage, and I don't even want a decent apology? No wonder Commander Xiao dared to treat me like that. I guess I am already an outsider in front of His Majesty. Chu Changping refused the marriage proposal in the Golden Palace that year. Do I have to rush to help him now?"
After saying this, she turned away and said, "I don't know about the person you love the most. Your Majesty, just think that I have never been to the palace today!"
The new emperor then signaled the chief eunuch to stop the princess, and softened his tone: "Aunt, please calm down. Today's events are too coincidental."
"Aunt is my closest relative in the world. If she doesn't do good for me, who else in the world will do good for me?" He stood up and apologized to the princess: "I just said something wrong."
The eldest princess looked at the new emperor with a bit of sadness in her eyes. After all, he was the only blood of her brother left in this world, and he was also the child she had watched grow up.
It can be said that the eldest princess knows the new emperor better than the empress dowager.
She knew that since he ascended the throne, he had allowed the Fan family to run like a mad dog in order to check and balance the foreign relatives and also to sharpen a blade that would be sharp enough for him to point at.
Over the years, whenever he wanted to deal with someone secretly, it was always the Fan family who stepped forward. Anyway, he gave the Fan family absolute tolerance and power, and all the blame was borne by the Fan family, just like when the Jiang family's legitimate daughter was sent to the army as a prostitute, the Fan family was also left to deal with the aftermath.
The princess sighed and said, "Your Majesty, if the water is clear, there will be no fish. But if the water is rotten, there will be no fish either."
The current court has been thrown into chaos by the Fan family.
The new emperor said: "I know what my aunt said, but... the King of Liaonan suddenly tried to protect the Chu family, and I really can't figure it out."
After all, the Chu family, apart from Chu Changping, has nothing else to use.
The princess hadn't figured this out, but she didn't want the new emperor to target the Chu family again. She said, "Your Majesty should first think about how to give an explanation to the Fan and Jiang families."
Although the princess looked down on Concubine Xi, she was still the illegitimate daughter of Minister Jiang. The Fan family had lost a life, and if Fan Wei wanted to give up, the Jiang family had to pay a life as well.
It seems only natural for a concubine to commit suicide after being humiliated.
***
Three days later, when the news from the capital reached Xizhou again, Feng Shuo was training his troops in the Xizhou camp.
After reading the secret letter, he handed it to Chi Qing who was looking around curiously at the side without saying a word.
Chi Qing looked at the secret letter and clicked his tongue twice: "This little emperor is really a lovesick man. He concealed the news that his favorite concubine was molested. Announce to the world that Fan Shengnian fell into the Taiye Lake and drowned after getting drunk. The Fan family is not as easy to control as the Lu family. Without the Lu family's support, the new emperor may also have other intentions. I think there will be a good show in the capital."
Feng Shuo's black armor shone brightly under the sun. He looked at the soldiers who were training in the training ground not far away and said, "Xizhou City is under martial law recently. All outsiders must be checked carefully."
Chi Qing knew that he was afraid that the young emperor would send someone to kill the Jiang family's daughter after learning that she was still alive. He said with great sorrow, "For the sake of Chu Changping, we have lost a lot of manpower and financial resources this time."
Not to mention the money that was distributed, most of the secret agents deployed in the capital were wiped out. This was the result of many years of operation.
If the secret agents in the palace were still there, the secret letter that was only delivered to them today should have arrived in Xizhou yesterday.
Feng Shuo did not respond.
Chi Qing fanned himself painfully while he started to talk nonsense again: "But I think the daughter of the Jiang family is quite infatuated. When she forged her identity before, didn't she say that she came to Xizhou to find her fiancé? Isn't the Chen Ergou she mentioned Lu Linyuan?"
Feng Shuo, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped, and Chi Qing almost bumped into his back without paying attention.
He touched his nose and looked at Feng Shuo blankly.
Feng Shuo said: "She and the Lu family boy are no longer engaged."
After hearing his nonsensical words, Chi Qing was stunned for a moment, and his fox eyes suddenly lit up.
There is something fishy!
***
Jiang Yanyi never saw Feng Shuo again after that day.
She returned the entire carriage of gifts he had given her unopened.
Days passed one by one, and she was busy every day with various matters concerning running the store, but when she had some free time, she would inexplicably think of the look in his eyes when he left that day, and the blood oozing from the gauze on his hands.
After finishing her work for the day, she sat in the yard again, lost in thought.
"Flower?"
"Flower?"
Qiu Kui called Jiang Yanyi several times before she responded, "What's wrong?"
"Why is Huahua always in a daze lately?"
Jiang Yanyi looked a little embarrassed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear: "Really?"
Qiu Kui nodded vigorously: "Yes!"
Jiang Yanyi stood up and scooped a bucket of water from the water tank to water the peppers. "Maybe it's because winter is coming, people are a little lazy."
She took the watering can to the corner of the yard and discovered that the pepper plant had turned completely red.
Jiang Yanyi was overjoyed: "Qiu Kui, come and see!"
When Qiu Kui saw the bright red peppers, his face turned red with excitement and he asked, "Can we make something delicious?"
Jiang Yanyi shook his head: "Not yet."
One pepper plant is too few, so we have to start planting and cultivating it as soon as possible.
But the weather outside the pass is getting colder and colder. When she woke up this morning, she found frost on the eaves and her breath was white.
In that era, there was no film, so it was impossible to build a greenhouse to grow seedlings.
She thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the flower market."
Those vendors who sell precious flowers and plants must have measures to keep them warm in winter. You can learn from them and then follow their advice.
The author has something to say: Ahem, I have nothing to do with the character Yu in the original book, and the author Jun is innocent (hurry up and put two pot lids on his head)
My daughter is about to start her career!
The next chapter will be updated at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning~
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2020-11-10 00:25:48~2020-11-10 16:41:28~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: 1 cherry meatball;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 30 bottles of "Go to see Huahua's concert", 20 bottles of "Goodbye", 6 bottles of "Gky", 5 bottles of "Oh Oh", 2 bottles of "Yun Shen Yi Meng", 1 bottle of "elle_zj1979", "Running Short Legs", "Rabbit", and "Jiu Qing";
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!